Lots of things work for babies that we forget to continue as adults. Fingerpainting, laughing, and crying when you’re sad – those are the basics. Seriously, when you were little we all thought we were good at drawing, right? Babies are seriously onto something. They’re totally comfortable in their own skin, they bravely try new things, and my favorite to re-adopt, they take naps. Enough said. They even notice the seemingly mundane things like how…

1. He loves animals. And not just one or two animals, but all animals. We call him the animal encyclopedia at home. He loves aquatic animals so much that we know how may teeth each type of shark has in their mouth. But above all, he loves horses. 2. Horses can heal. And they make him happy, and it’s how he got the nickname Boots. When we moved to Texas from Connecticut he wore cowboy…

Why is the sight of this six-colored toy so intimidating? Every time I see one in a store I cautiously rotate a side, silently squeal with rebellion, and then quickly turn it back before I twist it into an unsolvable state. It’s merely a palm-sized cube, but the interlocking faces pivot to reveal seemingly limitless and certainly baffling color combinations. Somehow Gadget inherited a joy for the pursuit of defeating this puzzle and received a…